Essentially a board game with deeper game mechanics and an enjoyable plot, Here Be Dragons is sure to pose a serious challenge to those who will make the mistake of underestimating its difficulty.

Weird West is a worthy first effort from WolfEye studios. With a little more thoughtful combat system and more voice-over it would hit the top. Fans of RPGs with immersive sims and those of the Wild West should definitely check it out.

Housemarque's new proposal glorifies the motto "simple idea"-"great execution", so if you wish for a stunning twin-stick shooter that will turn off your mind and will sharpen your reflexes, Nex Machina should be one of your first choices. If online co-op option is added in the future, then it will be hard to find reasons for not getting it.

The best Borderlands game to date, if your PC is premium enough to handle the deadly mix of Unreal Engine 5 and Denuvo DRM with an open-world game.

The Inner World: The Last Wind Monk is a worthy sequel to the first game and it offers just what you would expect from a point 'n' click adventure: a wonderful fantasy world, a beautiful story to tell, funny dialogues and a lot of smart (and sometimes crazy) puzzles.

A well-made space action exploration game with solid visuals and sound and an explosively fun combat system. Its non-story driven content gets repetitive after a while but you will be thoroughly entertained until then.

The first out of three single-player mission DLCs for Starcraft 2 provides a promising story which may be an improvement on Blizzard’s recent stale storytelling.The duration of this pack is somewhat short for its price, but the production values are still top notch. If you want a little bit more of single-player fun on SC2, you may want to give it a try.

With some balancing on ship stats, power ups and enemy AI, so that a skillful pilot is always rewarded, Redout can aspire to become like the AG racers of yore. For the time being, it's on the right track.

After several years, AC: Origins is the first Assassin's Creed game that we can recommend without hesitation. It's definitely not perfect, some gameplay mechanisms have not been fully exploited, some others have remained attached to the past, but the scales are clearly positive. It is huge, addictive, entertaining and the series are now going to the right direction. Hopefully they will continue to follow up on it.

Half-platform, half-documentary Never Alone uses videogames as an expressive medium to get us in touch with a civilization that has been dealing with nature's hardships for centuries. If you choose to ignore its short duration, you will find that you will learn a valuable lesson or two from its simple yet effective storytelling.

The Ties That Bind shines with polish and quality but ultimately feels like a retread of familiar territory. Perhaps seven years of television and four years of interactive fiction have been enough for the Walking Dead. A quality work through and through but long-time fans will feel like they are in too familiar territory.

The Ties That Bind shines with polish and quality but ultimately feels like a retread of familiar territory. Perhaps seven years of television and four years of interactive fiction have been enough for the Walking Dead. A quality work through and through but long-time fans will feel like they are in too familiar territory.

The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians offers an innovative hybrid battle system and dozens of hours of exploration in well designed and dark dungeons. A must-buy old school RPG.

Unexpectedly difficult and demanding, Darksiders III will test your patience and challenge your skills, but it will reward you if you spend the time it deserves.

After the misstep of the third instalment, Syberia: The World Before offers us that warm sense of melancholy and magical realism that the series is known for. If it had a few more challenging puzzles, it could have been the best in the series so far. Thanks for everything Mr. Sokal.

An intriguing tactical game with an excellent time manipulation mechanic that transforms each battle into a dance of perfectly choreographed moves. Some repetitiveness after the mid point of the campaign and the uneven framerate in larger battles are small blemishes on an otherwise quality game.

A solid, confident narrative, truly worthy of the "Nordic Noir" mantle. Whispers of a Machine convincingly puts players in charge of a police investigation in the technological post-apocalypse. The quality of the writing and puzzles are guaranteed to delight genre fans.

Little Big Workshop makes a Henry Ford out of you, requiring of you to plan and execute complex products while also handling machinery issues and your workforce. The stage for this labor drama is set on a tabletop providing comic relief and an authentic aesthetic. You get plenty of hours planning and enjoying the fruits of your intellectual labor for a very nice price.

It hardly innovates at all, but Lost Judgment is still a very fun and addictive Yakuza-style game that can keep you busy for hours.

Outlast 2 has a sinister, foreboding ambience and offers more tension and horrifying moments than its predecessor. There is still some trial and error involved, aggravated by unpredictable enemy A.I. at times and insufficient enemy awareness feedback to the player, but overall this is a game I can wholeheartedly recommend to horror fans.

Caravan is a very special videogame, an excellent addition to the "trading genre", with an amazing story at its core. Fans of the genre should not overlook this gem.

A necessary refresh of the series after Rebirth and a very good purchase for horror game fans.

Very well written and beautifully presented, House on Fire's debut will absolutely thrill fans of darker, more mature science fiction.

Huge amount of content, many possible choices with distinct consequences, reappearance of beloved characters... Despite some obvious flaws and various shortcomings, Dragon Age: Inquisition certainly feels like a step in the right direction for the series.

Dying Light 2: Stay Human is a game that successfully manages to marry all the cliches of open world/zombie games in a highly attractive and complete title. The open-world market may have been saturated for years now, but it's hard to see a similar title being released this year that's more fun than Dying Light 2. And I think that's what counts in the end.

Even though the similarities between Vermintide and the L4D series are literally everywhere, Fatshark managed to pull out an astonishing feat by delivering a heavily entertaining title. The grim atmosphere of the Warhammer universe is properly delivered and the gameplay is accessible and familiar to most. The downsides are the lack of dedicated servers and the somewhat imbalanced loot roll system. We are eager to see what are the future plans for Fatshark's new born child.

Despite any flaws, in whatever gameplay area they might be found, Rogue Trader was undoubtedly created by people with passion and knowledge of the setting and lore, who sought to create an excellent Warhammer RPG and, for the most part, they succeeded.

An eerie trip to your earliest pre-adolescent memories of wrestling with twenty verbs and a parser and somehow transported into another, darker, more dangerous, more real dimension. Stories Untold is a love letter and a step forward for an extinct genre. Impressive and impeccable in it’s execution, this is something all discerning horror fans owe to themselves to experience.

If you're looking for an explosive, fun and challenging hack 'n' slash/platformer, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound will not disappoint.

Strangeland is a remarkably interesting game for the fans of classic point 'n' click adventures. Undoubtedly, its short duration, combined with the relatively low difficulty of the puzzles and the somehow abstract ending, will probably make you doubt whether it is worth buying. But if you decide positively, be sure that this nightmarish journey will be unforgettable.

Some early technical and content shortcomings aside, the nostalgic single-player campaign and typically exciting Call of Duty multiplayer make sure that Modern Warfare II conveys the same and more intense emotions as its "Not Balanced for Lean" progenitor back in 2009.

Justin Wack and the Big Time Hack is another great adventure for this year, which is recommended to all fans of the genre. It features good humor, a relatively long length, dozens of puzzles to solve and a clever and entertaining story that, without being overwhelming, makes it a highly enjoyable adventure experience.

Assassin's Creed: Shadows does not reinvent the wheel, nor is it the landmark game that will redefine gaming. Nevertheless, it's a worthy and well-crafted Assassin's Creed title that will certainly satisfy fans of the series, probably win over some who had left it some years ago, but will hardly convince its detractors to bother with it.

Those expecting a well-polished AAA RPG experience with the highest possible production values will probably have to lower their expectations. For Piranha Bytes fans, however, ELEX II is exactly what they would want it, and expect it, to be.

With a very interesting and harrowing stealth approach to Evil Within's core, The Assignment proves to be an exemplary DLC. Not only does it explain some of the campaign's more obscure points but it also includes two terrifically tense boss fights. Even if a player did not enjoy the main game so much, the different dynamics of the Assignment make it a very worthwhile proposal for fans of survival horror.

A highly addictive, inspired and difficult enough puzzle-platform adventure, Yooka-Laylee's switch to 2D was spot-on.

Despite the rather overstuffed Legion Management aspect and the lingering feeling of watching a "Netflix adaptation" of ancient Rome, the game's objective-based combat, high production values, as well as the plethora of available RP options, make Rome the most complete Expeditions game yet.

Far Cry 5 is another "safe" title from Ubisoft, which includes well-crafted shooting mechanisms and a vast map full of activities, however the game's script is dismantled from its free-roam structure. Definitely, you will spend a lot of time by playing everything that the game has to offer, but in the end, the experience is dangerously similar to his predecessors.

Essentially, the "real" Little Nightmares III, a nightmarish but very brief journey into the depths of paranoia.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is a sublime choice for anyone who wants a further dose of the last year's game, even though it does not reach such high levels of quality.

Night Call provides some compelling everyday stories wrapped under a neo-noir narrative game. At the end of the day (no pun intended), it succeeds in showcasing the everyday life heroes (however big or small) of a large city and their concerns.

Tormented Souls 2 is more of the same, but that's not a bad thing. Even though the encounter design can become frustrating at times, the game is packed with content, varied puzzles and a haunting atmosphere. It's a good time to be a survival horror fan.

Age of Wonders III offers a very good option for turn-base strategy fans, continuing successfully the legacy of the series. It offers many hours of play, especially if you want to taste every bit of detail. Some further improvements which would force the player to ponder of his strategy before acting are needed. Nonetheless, Age of Wonders III is an amazing game that will always keep you thinking "one more turn".

STASIS: BONE TOTEM delivers what it promises and will satisfy any horror fan who will consciously choose it for its story and atmosphere, knowing that it has some demands from him in terms of reading dedication.

A brilliantly stylized noir mystery, whose dark metaphysical turns evoke equal parts True Detective and Sin City. A Crowd Of Monsters has crafted a uniquely dark experience, drawing both from historical facts as well as their vision of post-war America.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a game full of character. Even though it deals with one of humanity's bloodiest chapters it is not an extremely violent game. It delivers its purpose which is to educate about the Great War, and it does not fail to deliver the necessary feel to the proper ending.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is one of Don't Nod's best games and generally a very worthwhile proposition for fans of single-player action/"RPG" games, with an emphasis on plot. It's not foolproof, it doesn't contain any particular innovations, but it's thoughtful in almost every aspect and extremely well-written.

King Art Games display a versatile knack for resuscitating comatose genres, first with Book of Unwritten Tales (point-and-click adventures) and now with Iron Harvest (Real-Time Strategy). Despite a few details which need, ironing out, Iron Harvest will provide you countless of hours of much-needed RTS goodness. The support roadmap can only inspire confidence that most excellent things are yet to come for the game.

Last Train Home is primarily a product of love, a sincere testimony of the soul. Not only is it based on a widely unknown historical event, it's also an RTS, a category that has been out of the commercial spotlight for decades. The makers of the Ashborne Games studio didn't have commercial success as a priority; their motives were purer. The result, at least in terms of quality, does them justice.

An incredibly atmospheric 2D action/platform game with top-notch immersion but rather unremarkable gameplay.

The Bug Butcher is the brainchild of the old arcade classic Buster Bros/Pang, in a very well-crafted and exciting version. However, it really needs more content in order to be considered as a classic.

A survivalism and class struggle epic, unfolding amidst the pines of the Russian taiga and the steel rails of the Trans-Siberian railway. A title that manages to explore a bunch of ever-relevant questions while avoiding to get preachy.

Unforeseen Incidents proudly displays the “I Want To Believe” poster on its wall and boasts virtually irresistible artistic design. The puzzles are rock solid and will please the hardcore, challenge-starved adventure gamers of yore. The story sticks a bit too close to tried-and-tested conspiracy theory clichés and is the one element that keeps the game from attaining ‘modern classic’ status.

Even though Watch Dogs 2 is nowhere near to groundbreaking, it is a surprisingly good recommendation, perhaps one of the best that Ubisoft has offered in recent years.

A successful sequel that doesn't innovate but clearly improves on the previous game.

Frostpunk is a very unique and atmospheric survival experience that manages to make us reflect on aspects of our very selves and the society we live in, even though this is not quite achieved with the variety we would expect from a City-Builder game or the deep personal connection that This War of Mine managed to forge.

The Outer Worlds offers an RPG experience that brims with most of the qualities we could expect from its developers, based on their previous projects. It might not be the most ground-breaking or "deeply written" RPG of our times, but boy is it fun.

Different look but familiar and beloved gameplay with some successful innovations. Any issues are relatively minor and do not significantly detract from the enjoyment.

There’s not much new here in terms of ground-breaking additions and improvements, but Sports Interactive’s efforts are just about enough to offer an improved experience and a more fun game compared to last year’s release.

Blackguards 2 builds on the success of its predecessor in an interesting way. Some simplifications have been made, but the game now offers a more open-ended campaign and an intriguingly deep combat system. The game's graphics and voiceovers could have been improved upon but as as a whole Blackguards 2 is a solid and entertaining sequel.

Orcs Must Die! 3 is a highly entertaining blend of action and tower defense. Although the formula hasn't changed substantially from the previous installments in the series, the game promises unadulterated fun, especially in co-op play, and slaying orcs in creative ways is still something we'll never get tired of.

GRIP: Combat Racing is an exhilarating racing experience. There are some flaws such as a considerable increase in difficulty during the last quarter of the campaign, overly aggressive enemy A.I and physics that, sometimes, take hold in an unpredictable manner, but its bountiful content, beautifully designed tracks and adrenaline-infused action, constitute an alluring game.

A ten hour journey to our near future, featuring an aesthetically pleasing art style and a very human drama that successfully lands the philosophical questions of being and wonders about the limits of what is human and what existence is. Not a traditional adventure but a well-directed cyberpunk experience.

A typical annual release with some additions and improvements but nothing that drastically changes the experience.

The unbelievable graphics, the atmosphere and the feeling of lonely wandering manage to beat some design flaws such as lack of manual saving, possible backtracking and the failed jump scare moment. A game which will be discussed for a long time.

An amazing debut from Pixelated Milk, featuring a refreshing, deep, and satisfying combat system. Honest old school design, without any tiresome grinding. We anxiously await their next game.

The Thaumaturge, with its unique setting that combines Slavic folklore with a largely unexplored time in world history, is a title that oozes character. It's certainly not without its flaws, but as far as AA titles go this one is as solid as they come.

A co-op FPS by nature, by being structured and marketed as MMO, Destiny 2 unavoidably gets compared to games from both genres. Its MMO side is simply insufficient due to the lack of content. If Bungie could adopt the subscription model, this game would have simply been just an expansion of the first one, as they are as close to each other as World of Warcraft expansions are to each other. However from the FPS standpoint, Destiny 2 is ticking many boxes. It is correct in its core mechanisms, it has juicy gameplay and it is a worthwhile title that should have been a bit more ambitious with its design.

Double Fine Productions delivers once again, with a solid remaster that stays faithful to the spirit and style of the original game.

Last Tinker: City of Colors is a charming and very entertaining game. Although the relatively low difficulty level and the cheerful, colorful appearance appeals mostly to young gamers, does not mean that the grown-up... children will not find something that interests them. With about 7 hours of gameplay (add at least an hour or two to find all the secrets), nicely-written scenario full of smart ideas, a successful soundtrack and well-designed characters, no doubt the game is well worth the time you will spend for it.

ELEX is an old-school RPG, with all the pros and cons that come with it. Sometimes it is so crude that it's charmingly unpredictable. Beyond the few technical shortcomings, it is a fully satisfying role-playing game in an era that tends to forget the "role" part.

Children of Silentown left us with very good impressions. If its puzzle/mini game element had been tamed and there were more "typical" adventure puzzles or even like those of the last chapter, then it would have scored even higher. However, the darkly beautiful story it tells, its immersive atmosphere and the messages it wants to convey are more than enough to make it stay etched in your memory for a long time.

Surviving Mars manages to capture the poetry of K.S. Robinson's Red Mars, while also introducing new ideas and inspiration to the city building sim genre. There are some unpolished edges and missing menus but as a whole it is a relaxing and creative sim that has a lot of potential.

A truly unexpected and ultimately successful mix of roguelite combat and city management. Aside from the remarkable gameplay, the excellent aesthetics also provide pure watching entertainment value, from which some balance issues can't be taken away.

Certain elements, like the frequent use of Quick-Time-Events, might alienate the more hardcore PC gamers out there. However, Lone Wolf HD Remastered remains, in its core, a true Lone Wolf adventure that does more than enough credit to Joe Dever's original works.

A pleasant, imaginative, original and fair –regarding the amount of money it targeted on Kickstarter- adventure game. It doesn’t last long, but features a rich and vivid world, accompanied by excellent voice overs and harmonious music orchestration.

The scenario and atmosphere are Silent Hill f's biggest merits and will draw you in without you even realizing it. The revamped combat system works well, without any major flaws, but the same couldn't be said about some vague puzzles and the limited inventory space that had us visit the Hokora Shrines frequently. Nevertheless, it leaves a positive impression as the series' return after so many years and makes us optimistic about its future.

Despite its minor flaws, Tesla Effect marks the return of a beloved character, it's overflowed with feeling, shows a perfect use of money gathered in Kickstarter and offers many hours of gameplay, inviting us at the same for extra playthroughs, in order to see its alternative endings.

Sonic's entry into new, for him, gaming paths is overall successful, despite any problems. With a little polish and attention to detail, the next game in the series has the foundations in place to finally look eternal rival Mario in his three-dimensional, bubbly eyes.

Sniper Elite 4 is a pretty good game - there is no doubt about it. Having struck a good balance between TPS and stealth, it is perfectly capable of entertaining fans of both genres. However, perhaps the time has come for Rebellion to experiment with other eras besides WW2.

A few match engine issues, hopefully easily resolvable, somewhat tarnish an otherwise excellent version of Sports Interactive's iconic management series.

Despite an unsatisfactory ending that does not tie up all the loose ends, the last episode of Song of Horror is highly engrossing with its sinister setting and puzzle implementation.

Aragami is one of the best stealth games we've seen lately, which will satisfy fans of the genre. However just be prepared to spend some quite hard times with some more "action" moments.

Spintires: Mudrunner is a soviet saga regarding man’s struggle to tame and traverse the wild nature. Hubris and failure to read the muddy roads result in disaster, only to overcome it as well, as the very essence of the game is to enjoy those failures, gameplay-wise.

Forgotton Anne is, without a doubt, a wonderful adventure, with a story and exquisitely animated characters that put the player in a pensive mood, while the puzzles and platforming bring the desired alternation between storytelling and action. I believe, however, that the game would have benefited a lot from a higher gameplay difficulty and more tough/grey morality choices, elevating it to an all-time classic status.

A solid and really quite fun basketball game for fans of arcade action and outrageous dunks.

Although Yomawari: Night Alone will not break any new ground in the horror genre and some of its plot related questions go unanswered, its ambience, lore and palpable premise ensure that it's a journey worth taking.

A remarkable adventure, which implements its clever original idea very well, with a strong Tim Burton aesthetic.

The unique art direction, amazing soundtrack and dark atmosphere of a well-written story combine together into a very pleasant surprise for 2015 and an ideal debut for OhNoo Studio. If only it had voice-overs too, it would easily reach an even higher level of quality.

Crow Country goes beyond its nostalgic visual design, with some QoL elements, solid puzzles, a haunting ambience and a well-written plot. Heartily recommended to new and old fans of horror games.

Indika is a short but powerful experience full of symbolism and philosophical quest(ion)s without being over-exhaustive.

A quality cRPG in the footsteps of classic Fallout that will satisfy fans of the genre. Some flaws do not allow it to reach the top scoring levels but in any case it is clearly a worthwhile purchase.

Trine 3 is a great game although it has some minor problems and a cliffhanger ending. The fans of the series cannot go wrong with it... the magic is still there.

A quality jRPG with good value for money that does enough things well to earn a comfortable purchase recommendation.

Moons of Madness may be the best implementation of traditional puzzle-solving we've seen so far in an interactive narrative experience, in a setting that skillfully merges unearthly horrors with more "tangible" science fiction.

The Invincible is a wonderful take on the literary world of Stanisław Lem's Regis III, a hard sci-fi story about the limits of human expansion and the understanding of worlds different than ours. It is clearly a product of love, featuring amazing art direction both in the atompunk aesthetics, the top-notch voice acting and fitting OST. A calming narrative-based experience that manages to do well what Sci-Fi should do, ask those big questions, and make the player wonder about our place in the universe.

What pleasantly surprised me is that A Story About My Uncle doesn't focus exclusively on the story itself, but puts great emphasis on the simple yet engrossing narrative. This results in a high sense of immersion which becomes apparent only at the very end of the narration. ASAMU is certainly a non-violent interactive story videogame that pushes the genre one step forward, through its platforming mechanics. For anyone who thought Dear Esther as a surprising alternative to conventional gaming, ASAMU will certainly not disappoint.

Dead Rising 3 is a remarkable game, capable of bringing a lot of fun to fans of open-world games and zombies. Unfortunately the modest technical area and the poor performance even on high-end computers, may be a let off to a lot of gamers who would like to try it.